Trolley duct and collector therefor



April 1958 J. A. HERRMANN ET AL 2,830,136

TROLLEY DUCT AND COLLECTOR THEREFOR Original Filed July 1, 1950 4' L: In

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TROLLEY DUCT AND COLLECTOR THEREFOR John A. Herrmann, Grosse PointeFarms, and Elwood T. Platz, Detroit, Mich., assignors, by mesneassignments, to l-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Original application July 1, 1950, SerialNo. 171,588, now Patent No. 2,696,532, dated December 7, 1954. Dividedand this application August 24, 1954, Serial No. 451,882

1 Claim. (Cl. 19123) This invention relates to electricaldistributionsystems of the trolley duct type, and particularly to noveltrolleys useful in such systems. This application is a division ofpending application No. 171,588, filed July 1, 1950, now patent No.2,696,532.

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel typeof trolley arranged to provide a high degree of smoothness of movementalong the duct and also arranged to be separable so as to be readilyapplicable to, or removable from, a duct at any point thereof.

A further object is to provide a novel form of trolley usefulparticularly with a duct of the open channel type with the trolleyhaving sides and a bottom which completely shield the trolley contactsat their points of engagement with the bus bars. 7

Generally, the trolley herein described comprises a bottom plate andside plates with the latter having rollers for riding on the uppersurface of the channel duct. The lower or bottom surface of the trolleyis formed with upwardly projecting contactors or collectors which engagethe undersurfaces of bus bars that may be mounted in the channel ductand exposed to the open bottom of the duct. The bottom wall of thetrolley may be formed with upwardly extending end portions to completethe enclosure of the space under the duct encompassed by the trolley sothat the collectors and contactors within the trolley are completelyshielded from outside the trolley. A more complete description of a ductconfiguration that is particularly suitable for use with the trolley ofthe instant invention may be had by reference to patent applicationSerial No. 164,247, filed on May 25, 1950, and assigned to the assigneeof the present invention. This application is now Patent No. 2,675,434.

Details of construction of the trolley herein disclosed will best beunderstood upon reference to the appended drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view showing one embodiment of trolleycollector for the duct.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the trolley collector of Fig. 1with the end wall cut away.

A trolley duct, more fully described in the aforementioned copendingapplication which is now Patent No.

2,675,434, may include a casing made up of two halves 40-42 (Fig. 2).Each is of ogee form and has a central flange 43. Meeting flanges 43 maybe riveted together by rivets 44 passed through rivet holes, some ofwhich holes may be utilized to receive bolts or other fastening meansenabling the duct to be connected to vertical hangers (not shown).

Running from end to end of each unit length is an insulation liner 58 ofthin, flexible insulation material rigid enough to be shape-sustainingand self-supporting but flexible enough to be bent on longitudinaledgesof its ridges to permit U-shaped bus bars 60 of the form shown in Fig. 2to be held by shoulders of the insulation liner 58.

For use with the open bottom channel type trolley duct 7 brieflydescribed, there is provided a trolley comprising a base or bottom plate240 formed with end walls 242. To

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the longitudinal side edges of the base 240 are hingedly secured byhinges 244, side plates 248 having trolley engaging rollers 250. Oneside plate 248 is formed with a bail 251 which hooks over either of twohook portions 252--253 of lugs 254 secured to the other side plate 248,and the bail 251 has a knob 255 projecting through an opening 256 of theside plate 248. A spring 257 normally ccerces the bail 251 in a downwarddirection to cause it to engage behind hooks 252 or 253 to maintain theside plates as close to each other as possible. However, the knob 255may be moved upwardly, manually, in slot 256 of side plate 248 to liftthe bail 251 from hooks 252 and thus free the side plates to be movedaway from each other by the springs 258 around hinges 244.

Mounted upon base 240 (Fig. 1) is a fuse and connection block, morefully described in application No. 171,588, now U. S. Patent 2,696,532,hereinabove referred to.

Straps 168 are connected to contactors 184 (Fig. 1), i

which may be in the form of rollers as illustrated, or any other form,such as contactor bars or shoes, which contactors move along theundersurfaces of the bus bars of the trolley duct and thus electricallyengage the bus bars.

It will be observed that the trolley herein described is designedespecially for use with the open channel type of duct here disclosed andis formed to ride freely on the horizontal upper surface of such channelwith the collectors projecting upwardly from the bottom of the trolleyto the bus bars through the open bottom of the channel. The bottomplates of the trolley, together with the side plates and end plates,forms a complete and eflective shield around the collectors of thetrolley and with the points of contact of such collectors with the ductbus bars.

We claim: 7

For use with a trolley duct comprising an open bottom channel casing ofinverted U form and having bus bars or rails under the casing andexposed on their own undersurfaces, a trolley type collector having abottom plate, two side plates movably connected thereto at their lowerportions and having supporting rollers on and inside their upperportions for rolling on the top wall of the casing, bus bar contactorsoperatively mounted to the bottom plate and projecting upwardly toengagethe bus bars or rails, disengageable locking means comprising alatch pivotally secured to one such side plate and a lug secured to theother side plate, said latch releasably engaging the lug to maintainsaid rollers in interlocked position over the top of said duct, a firstspring means urging said side plates simultaneously to move away fromeach other when said latch is disengaged thereby releasing said trolleycollector from said duct, a second spring means urging said latch tomove downward, said lug having means for slidably returning said latchinto hooked engagement with said lug whereby said Side plates of saidcollector are maintained in operative condition and said rollers areinterlocked over the top of said duct; said disengageable locking meansand said second spring means being operatively positioned on the insideof said trolley collector, a knob secured to said latch for releasingsaid locking means, said knob being operatively positioned to extendthrough an opening in said other side plate when said locking means isengaged.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.19,513 Frank et a1 Apr. 2, 1935 1,392,615 Anthony Oct. 4, 1921 1,583,744Pollard May 4, 1926 1,897,362 7 Daniels Feb. 14, 1933 2,578,368 NehrkeDec. 11, 1951

